Bursting with Excitement (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
by ilna
Summary: Everyone gathers for the Fourth of July fireworks display. Part 4 of Angie's First Birthday Marathon.


**Notes:** Huge thank you as always to Mari and Sammy who make every day awesome in the real _and_ REAL worlds :-). Huge thanks to SuperSammy for the title (of course!).

Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! We're thrilled you're enjoying the marathon so much!

 **Happy Independence Day to our American readers celebrating today!**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _Bursting with Excitement (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)_

"This is a really great spot," Aunt Deb commented as the group spread out blankets and lawn chairs on the grass by the overlook to watch the upcoming fireworks display. They'd come early to guarantee a good place so had brought a picnic dinner to enjoy while they waited for the show.

"Danny's suggestion," Joseph said as he and Chin got Grandma Ang settled into a lawn chair with the Cubs logo printed on the back.

"Grace and I found it," Danny told them, helping Gabby unpack containers of food. He looked over to where Grace was setting down a small bag of toys to keep Angie occupied. "When was it, Monkey? Second year we were here?"

"Yep," Grace confirmed. She grinned. "The year before that we went to the park because I really wanted to watch the fireworks up close so of course you took me even though I know you hated the traffic trying to leave afterwards."

He smiled at her. No one was surprised to hear he'd faced post-fireworks traffic for his daughter.

"And then the next year we found this place and you said the view would be even better," Grace continued, "and you were right."

"I usually am," Danny quipped.

Steve, setting up another chair, snorted, earning him a look from his partner.

"Great view and much less traffic, I'm sure," Elizabeth said, setting out a platter of cut fruit on one of the blankets.

"Exactly," Danny said.

"Plus out here we're also plenty far away from the noise," Grace said. "Especially for Angie."

"That is a plus," Catherine said, holding a squirming Angie. "But we brought something to cover her ears anyway."

"Ah bah!" Angie cried in frustration, trying to get down. "Da ee!"

"Okay, okay, you can explore," Catherine said, setting her down on the grass where she immediately started to crawl around. "I think there are enough people here to keep you out of trouble."

Joan, still sporting the colorful patriotic necklace she'd made at the library, said, "I'll play with Baby Angie so she doesn't get in trouble, Aunt Cath."

"Me, too!" Jacob added.

"Yeah, we'll watch her really carefully," Kaitlyn said.

"Thank you," Catherine said, smiling at them.

"I wish we'd known about this spot when you all were younger," Jenna said as she piled up the containers of Kaitlyn's 4th of July themed cupcakes for after dinner.

"Yeah, we used to go down to the park," Dylan said. "There were so many people there."

"And I didn't like the noise of the fireworks," Kaitlyn admitted. "So I'd sit in the van with my hands over my ears."

Jenna looked at her fondly. "Every year I'd say we didn't have to go, but you'd insist because you didn't want your brothers and sister to miss out."

"Ohh, that was very thoughtful of you, Kaitlyn," Kono said.

"And I was always very proud that you'd try every year," Jenna said.

Kaitlyn smiled a little self-consciously at the attention. "But I always ended up in the van." She looked over at her oldest brother. "And Cody would sit with me so Mom could stay with everyone else and I wouldn't be alone."

He smiled back from where he and Jess were laying out another blanket.

"Best older brother ever," Jess said, squeezing his arm. She grinned over at Jacob. "Right, Jacob?"

"Yeah!" he said immediately. "Best ever!"

"You got that right," Dylan said.

"Definitely," Casey agreed.

As the group finished set up, Gabby went over to Kaitlyn. "You know, I used to do the same thing when I was a kid."

Kaitlyn looked up at her, surprised. "Really?"

"Oh yeah. I didn't like loud noises at all so during the fireworks I'd sit inside my parents' car while they sat on the hood with my brother. I could still see most of the show but at least it wasn't quite as loud."

"I didn't know that," Danny said, having joined them.

She smiled at him. "Well, they don't bother me now."

"Yeah, they don't bother me now either," Kaitlyn said. "Not much anyway. But I am kinda glad we'll be farther away this year."

Gabby gave her a little wink. "Me, too."

"Was I scared of the fireworks, Mama?" Joan asked, looking up from where she and Jacob were playing in the grass with Angie.

"A little bit at first," Mary told her, "but then you just liked all the colors."

"I hope Baby Angie isn't scared," Joan said, her brow furrowing in concern. "I didn't bring Bun to give her."

"That's very sweet of you, Joan, but I think she'll be okay," Catherine assured her. "She may not even be awake. The fireworks don't start till after her usual bedtime so if she gets sleepy we might take her home." She smiled over at Danny. "We don't want her to be cranky for her big birthday outing with Uncle Danno."

"Nobody could be cranky with Uncle Danny," Kaitlyn said, smiling at him.

As he opened his mouth to thank her, Steve barked a sarcastic laugh. Danny threw him a faux-glare before turning back to Kaitlyn. " _Thank_ you, Kaitlyn."

"Hey, you know what would have been cool?" Jacob said suddenly. "If Angie had been born on the 4th of July then we could pretend the fireworks were for her!"

"That would have been pretty cool," Chin agreed.

"Oh no," Danny said. "She was born on the exact right day: Uncle Danno's birthday."

"By a whole two minutes," Steve said, rolling his eyes.

"Two very important minutes because that made us birthday buddies, right, Angie? You waited to be born so you could be birthday buddies with your uncle Danno, didn't you?"

She grinned up at him and raised a hand in his direction. "Daaa no."

"Ha!" Danny said, smiling broadly. "Did you hear that? Not 'Daaa oo' but 'Daaa _no_.' " He stepped over to scoop Angie up and gave her a tickle. "We are definitely birthday buddies."

She giggled, patting his shoulder happily. "Daaa no!"

Joan squealed, jumping up. "She said 'Danno'! Can you say my name, Baby Angie?"

Angie smiled at her, putting a hand out toward her cousin. "Eee!"

When Joan slumped, Jacob said, "Don't worry, she can't say my name, either."

"Not yet," Steve said, stepping up beside Danny.

As soon as Angie saw her father she reached for him. "Dada!"

Steve settled the baby against his side and looked back and Joan and Jacob. "She can't say a lot of names yet, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know who everyone in her family is. Watch this. Hey, Angie, where's Grandma Ang?"

Angie looked around the huge group until she spotted Ang in her chair. She smiled and pointed toward her great-grandmother. "Ah!"

"That's my girl," Ang said, waving at her.

Steve smiled. "And where's Aunt Mary?"

Again, Angie swiveled her head until she found the right person and immediately smiled at her.

"Where's Jacob?"

When Angie looked right at him, Jacob grinned excitedly. "That's awesome!"

"And where's your cousin Joanie?" Steve asked.

Angie's gaze shifted right to Joan and her smile grew even wider. "Eee!"

Joan beamed. "She knows me!"

"Of course she does," Catherine said, smiling at her. "She knows everyone because she sees her family so much, in person and on Skype and even in the pictures we show her. We want to make sure she knows all the very important people who love her so much."

Steve set Angie down and held onto her hands, helping her to walk over toward Joan and Jacob. "So even though she can't say your name yet, she still knows you and loves you."

Angie wriggled out of his grasp and plopped back down by her toys, pointing at Joan and Jacob to get them to do the same.

Steve grinned. "And _definitely_ wants to play with you."

* * *

During dinner, the kids shared more details from their twilight tour of the zoo.

"The giraffes had purple tongues!" Jacob exclaimed.

"Oh yeah," Dylan said. "That was so weird."

"But it makes sense," Casey said. "Because they use their tongues to get food so it's sticking out all the time in the sun. It's a dark purple color so it doesn't sunburn."

"That does make sense," Leilani said.

"I can't even imagine getting a sunburn on my tongue," Danny said, wincing at the thought.

"If anyone could, it'd be you," Steve said.

"I'm going to assume you're trying to make a crack that I talk too much, so I'm going to ignore that other than to say that doesn't even make sense since my tongue is in my mouth while I talk."

Steve chuckled, holding out a piece of strawberry to Angie who put it in her mouth.

"Mmm," she said, slapping his leg for more. He held out another piece.

"Angie really liked the giraffes," Grace said.

"Yeah, I think the giraffes and the tigers were her favorites," Kaitlyn agreed. "Maybe she liked the patterns."

"You could be right," Elizabeth said. "Those are two beautiful animals."

Angie hit Steve's leg again, opening her mouth for more strawberry.

"I'm out," he said. "How about some melon?" He offered her a piece.

She pushed it away. "No!"

"What? You like melon."

"Not as much as she likes strawberries, apparently," Mary said. "Here, cutie, Aunt Mary's got you covered."

She held out a strawberry half and Angie crawled toward her. When she reached for the fruit, Mary gently stilled her hand. "Just bite."

Angie leaned over and started gnawing on the strawberry with her teeth and gums. "Mmm," she said happily, going back in for more.

When she'd finished that one, she looked around for more. The first person she spotted with a strawberry was Cody and she crawled to him.

"Co ee!"

He laughed. "I think you only say my name when I've got food you want," he teased.

"Or when she wants to go for a walk around the capitol," Catherine added.

He smiled. "We like the reflecting pool, right, Angie?"

"Ah ma!" she said, reaching for the strawberry on his plate.

He kept it out of her reach while he glanced over at Steve and Catherine. "Is it okay?"

Catherine nodded, smiling. "Sure."

After they'd all had their fill of sandwiches, veggies, and fruit, Kaitlyn revealed her special 4th of July cupcakes. She'd made both vanilla and chocolate cupcakes and decorated the top with white frosting, then added a small blue patch with white star sprinkles and red icing stripes on each to look like the American flag.

"Oh wow, Kaitlyn," Kono said. "These are incredible. They must have taken forever."

"Jacob sorted out the white stars from the container," Kaitlyn said as she and Jenna passed them out. "And Mom and Casey did the white frosting. That helped a lot."

Deb smiled as she took a vanilla one. "You know I look forward to your amazing creations every time I visit."

Kaitlyn smiled proudly.

"You are definitely a master cupcake baker _and_ artist," Aaron said, sharing a special smile with his fellow baker.

When Kaitlyn reached Elizabeth who now had Angie in her lap, she asked, "What kind would Angie like best?"

"Oh, I'm sure she'd like them both," Elizabeth said. "But how about she and I share a chocolate one today."

Kaitlyn handed her a chocolate cupcake and before Elizabeth could move it, Angie managed to get a hand right on top of the icing. She looked at it for only a second before pressing her hand to her mouth.

Her eyes lit up as she tasted the sugary combination. "Mmmmm!"

She reached for more but Elizabeth had moved the cupcake well out of reach.

"Ah ma! Ah ma!" Angie cried, leaning toward it as everyone laughed.

Mary snapped a picture of her frosting covered face.

"Well, I'd say that's a prelude to her birthday if anything is," Adam said with a grin.

"Are you kidding?" Danny said. "Her birthday's going to be much, _much_ messier. She's a McGarrett/Rollins kid, that means she doesn't do anything by halves. I'm calling it now, she's gonna have frosting in her hair, her ears, probably even her toes after all is said and done."

"I think it's the birthday buddy's job to clean her up after, isn't it?" Steve said. "I'm sure I read that in the book."

"You did not."

Steve scratched his face, looking completely serious. "It's in there." He looked over at his daughter who was now chewing a small bite of the chocolate cupcake. "Don't you want Uncle Danno to clean you up after you eat on your birthday, Angie?"

"Daaa no!" Angie said, waving a frosting covered hand at him.

"For the cutest birthday buddy ever?" Danny said. "Anything."

* * *

Angie was still awake after the sun set and the sky darkened. As it approached 8:30, Danny tuned the portable radio he'd brought to the station that was playing music to accompany the fireworks show.

"I can't believe you still have a little boombox," Aaron said.

"What can I say? I'm old school."

While other groups had also gathered at the overlook, they still had plenty of room and all got settled into comfortable seats either in chairs or on the blankets for the show.

"This is going to be so fun, Baby Angie!" Joan said excitedly, sitting in Aaron's lap next to Steve who was holding Angie. "There's going to be so many colors in the sky! Red and blue and white and silver and gold and all the colors!"

"Ah bah ee!" Angie said, picking up her cousin's excitement and bouncing in place as Steve held her standing up on her feet between his legs.

"You know Leilani can name all the different kinds of fireworks," Chin said.

"They've got names?" Dylan asked. He shook his head at his own question. "I mean, duh, of course they've got names."

"What are they?" Kaitlyn asked, interested.

"Well, you know the ones you see the most, that burst into a bunch of colorful stars that don't have a trail of sparks?" Leilani said. "Those are called Peonies."

"Like the flower?" Jenna asked.

Leilani nodded. "That's right."

"What about the ones that do have spark trails?" Casey asked.

"Those are either Chrysanthemums or Willows. Chrysanthemums have spark trails that go straight out, and Willows drift down in arcs like the branches on a willow tree."

"What about the ones that look like a bunch of comets?" Jess asked. "Those are my favorites."

Leilani smiled. "Those are called Palms."

"Neat!" Jacob said. "Like palm trees!"

"Why are so many named after flowers and trees?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Because they start off in a kind of seed or shell," Leilani explained. She demonstrated with her hands. "They are usually in either a sphere or cylinder that has the stars and powder inside arranged in different ways and with different compounds to make the colors and shapes we see."

"Look at this," Deb said with a grin. "We're getting a science lesson and a fireworks show this year."

Leilani smiled. "But they're not all named after flowers and trees. There are also Rings. I bet you can guess which ones those are."

"The ones that look like a big circle!" Jacob said.

"Right. And sometimes they're arranged in different shapes like stars or even a smiley face."

"Ohhh, I hope there are smiley faces tonight," Kaitlyn said.

"Yeah, smiley faces!" Joan echoed.

"Ah ee!" Angie cried, bouncing again.

"I gotta ask," Danny said. "Why do you know so much about fireworks?"

Leilani smiled. "When I was a kid I saw this episode of Reading Rainbow about a family that put on huge fireworks displays like this one." She motioned toward the park where the show was soon to start. "After that I got really into learning about fireworks. For a while I even wanted to make that my career."

"That's really cool," Dylan said. "Can you tell me some of the other names while the show is going on?"

"Sure," Leilani said, patting the ground beside her. "I'd be happy to."

As Dylan moved over to sit by her a few distant fireworks went off in quick succession and everyone looked toward the park.

"It's starting!" Jacob cried.

"Remember they do a couple testers first," Cody said.

"Oh yeah. Then the _real_ fireworks start."

Angie had frozen at the sight and sound, looking out to where the smoke tendrils could be seen in the sky with more curiosity than fear.

Catherine reached over and put a small pair of earmuffs on her, and Angie was so fixated on the sight, she didn't immediately try to take them off.

After about a minute of everyone waiting in anticipation, the show officially began with a flurry of multicolored explosions bursting in the sky.

Angie's eyes opened wide and she leaned back into Steve, her mouth opening in wonder. He shifted to hold her against his side between him and Catherine and they watched her reactions more than the fireworks, ready to take her to the Highlander if need be.

As Peonies and Chrysanthemums, Willows, Palms, Rings, and more lit up the sky, Angie's open-mouthed expression morphed into a wide smile. She raised one hand to point at them, her eyes never leaving the bright sky.

"Oooooh," she said, her voice full of amazement.

Steve and Catherine exchanged a smile over their daughter's head. They'd debated briefly whether to bring Angie out tonight, but ultimately decided to give it a try. As they looked from her awed face to the similar expressions of their family and friends staring at the incredible fireworks display, they knew they'd made the right decision.

Angie was right where she should be, surrounded by people who loved her as she experienced something new and amazing. She might not remember this specific moment, but her parents would, and as they shifted closer, Catherine reached up to lace her fingers with Steve's where he held Angie steady between them. He tightened his fingers around hers, knowing they were thinking the exact same thing.

They were all right where they should be.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Note:** Firework information courtesy of PBS and Popular Mechanics. Google if you want to know more! :-)

 **Angie's First Birthday Marathon continues through July 7th!**

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